Cypher

Evan Peters as Douglas Aaron Ramsey

GENERAL Name: Douglas Aaron Ramsey Birthdate: 08/01/1942 Faction: X-Men Codename: Cypher Position: Freelance Translator, Instructor: Languages, Language Theory, Computer Theory Hometown: Salem Center, NY FAMILY STATISTICS Partner(s): …Warlock? Do you dare ask? Height: 5'9" Father: Phillip Ramsey, Esq. Weight: 150 lb. Mother: Sheila Ramsey Hair Color: Blond Siblings: None Eye Color: Blue Children: None

Background

IC Events

Traits

Powers

• Doug considers his mutant power to be "Omnilinguistics," the ability to correctly interpret and respond to any form of communicative technique, auditory, physical, or written. This is because when his powers first manifested, that was what developed first. And so, this generally forms the core of his powerset. But Doug's real power is a specialized form of hypercognition, or enhanced intellect, one which may branch into the territory of metapsionics (he hasn't been tested for actual psionic potential). More specifically, his mutant power is pattern hyper-recognition and response.
• As he's gotten older and his powers have grown, they have developed in a number of ways:
  • He can instantly comprehend and communicate in any language, written, verbal or physical, even ones he has not personally experienced before. Even if there is no linguistic root shared with human speech or no living frame of linguistic reference (such as the Voynich Manuscript or alien script) his ability to cognate and accurately translate information is measured in minutes. This even includes languages like binary.
  • Lip Read: Impeccably, as long as he can see the person's mouth.
  • ** Cold Read: Superhuman ability to accurately read nuance from a person's statements and their body language and gain additional information. 'She is unhappy to see that person', 'He is bluffing', and so on. Doug's ability to cold read can put the best (fraudulent) psychic to shame; it would take a liar whose ability to fib is itself actively superhuman (such as Loki, God of Tricksters) to actively bluff his powers.
  • Reality Disruption Sense: When the patterns of reality are disrupted, such as by transformative magic, dimensional rifts, or other abberations, Doug can pick up on the lingering disruption to the "language" of reality.
  • Pattern Reading: The ability to read the "language" of physical patterns or, more abstractly, the patterns of movement that makes up the day to day traffic of a large city; this leads to the ability to extrapolate structural weaknesses, the location of secret doors, or even the ability to detect the existence of disruptions in the pattern, such as traffic accidents or crimes underway. He tends to think of this as the "language" of objects or the "language" of the gestalt organism.
  • Component Determination: The ability to taste an object and mentally break down components and proportions that went into the creation fo the final item. Example: Tasting a muffin and then working the ingredients and relative proportions that compose the muffin.
  • Physical Response**: Physically, Doug is only an athletic human. His ability to read/respond, however, gives him the ability to respond to the physical actions of others in a manner that is almost precognitive, dramatically increasing his effectiveness in a fight (enhanced by his self-defense training at the Xavier's School) and making him a superb dancer, especially as part of a matched pair with someone else. He lags behind in that those with superhuman endurance, strength, speed and durability outmatch him.

Skills

• Computers: Home computers are not set to begin appearing for another 10 years (circa 1974). But as a student at the Xavier's School, Doug has had the chance to play with some computer equipment beyond the currently commercially available level of technology, and has evinced great ability. Thanks to his powers, he adapts to computers very quickly, and could operate even alien computers with a very brief familiarization period.
• Combat: Self-Defense training was part of the Xavier's School curriculum (it's a dangerous world for mutants), and while he did not receieve the highest-level combat enhancement, he does have combat training equal to military basic hand to hand and weapon self-defense, which has been further supplemented by personal training, and then greatly supplemented by his mutant power.
• Languages: Yes.
• Athletics: Doug has the athletic ability of a human being who engages in regular, vigorous exercise.
• Scholastics: Doug is an all-around mathlete, an intellectual, deeply well-read and great to have on your team on trivia night.

Advantages

• Xavier's School: As an Xavier's School alumnus, Doug has certain advantages, including the potential to return to the school for post-graduate instruction, the ability to meet and converse with its instructors, contacts among the X-Men (some of whom were his classmates and friends), and even the potential to visit and seek shelter at the school.
• Contacts: Since graduating Xavier's School Doug has worked as an assistant, professional translator, and personal attache and assistant. He has a number of wealthy contacts and contacts in the government, and he is considered one of the best of the business, especially since he is great at on-site translation (he is generally considered a linguistic savant, it not being public knowledge that he's a mutant).
• Money: Doug has a decent nest-egg put aside from his work over the past few years, and can command high prices for his work as a translator. He is not a millionaire, but certainly not hurting for money.

Flaws

• Mean Drunk: Doug is a mean drunk, prone to mood swings and even on one lamented occasion, getting physically violent. As such, he avoids drinking most of the time, stopping at one or two even when he does indulge. Alcohol opens the floodgates to his insecurities.
• Doug's power isn't flashy. It's useful, but it isn't flashy or "sexy", and though he's mostly come to terms with it, when he's surrounded by people with astonishing, reality-defying powers it tends to make him insecure and prone to taking stupid risks if he doesn't take a moment to check himself. He worries about proving himself to people he doesn't really need to prove himself to, and it makes him a daredevil and a risk-taker when he really ought to know better.
• Womanizer: Despite the fact that he's an amiable sort of guy, Doug has a weakness for beautiful women, and can sometimes be bamboozled by them. Especially older beautiful women. He is a bit of a skirt-chaser, in an amiable sort of way, an outrageous flirt, a bit of a cad, unable to settle down, though he's never mean or malicious about it. He can't help it, he just falls in love easily, over… and over… and over again.

Gallery

Logs

▼ Show logs

1965-10-28 - Roma pt1 (log: constantine douglas morbius plot profane-language)

1965-10-16 - Punch Him Harder pt 2 (log: constantine douglas jebediah morbius plot profane-language)

1965-10-08 - Getting Down to Brass Tacks (log: douglas elmo plot profane-language wither)

1965-10-07 - Punch Him Harder pt1 (log: constantine douglas jebediah morbius plot profane-language)

1965-09-27 - You Ain't Doug (log: douglas jebediah plot profane-language)

1965-09-22 - Back in Business (log: douglas plot profane-language social wither)

1965-09-21 - Half Light, Half Dark (log: douglas elmo plot profane-language social)

1965-09-16 - Not the Business of Decent Men (log: douglas jay plot profane-language)

1965-09-05 - Turtleneck Doug? (log: douglas elmo jay jebediah kaleb plot profane-language)

1965-08-26 - How to Find a Doug in Ten Days (log: douglas jay jebediah kaleb profane-language social)

1965-08-18 - Never So Free (log: douglas jay plot profane-language)

1965-08-05 - Sit Still (log: douglas elmo halgrim jay jp social vitale)

1965-08-01 - Bar Updates (log: douglas elmo jebediah social)

1965-07-16 - Systemic Glitches (log: douglas jay plot profane-language social)

1965-06-22 - SkeeBall Kings (log: douglas jebediah social)

1965-06-01 - Miss Buttermilk (log: douglas jebediah social)

1965-05-28 - Drinks At Lux (log: douglas kai lambert social)

1965-05-24 - Codenames (log: douglas jay jebediah social)

1965-05-16 - Romancing the Rosetta Stone? (log: douglas league morbius social)

1965-05-09 - Flirtation and Fisticuffs (log: douglas jebediah lambert social)

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